'Daily Mail' Says 'Sorry' To George Clooney For Running Story On Girlfriend Amal Alamuddin's Mother; Clooney Rejects Apology

British tabloid The Daily Mail has apologized to George Clooney for insinuating there were tensions over religious differences between the actor and his fiancée Amal Alamuddin's family.

Managing editor Charles Garside removed the offending article and while he is apologetic, he insists the article is not a fabrication. 

Clooney posted his scathing response to the apology in an op-ed for USA Today: 

"In the apology, managing editor Charles Garside claims that the article was 'not a fabrication,' but 'based the story on conversations with senior members of the Lebanese community.'

"The problem is that none of that is true. The original story never cites that source, but instead goes out of its way to insist on four different occasions that 'a family friend' spoke directly to the Mail. A 'family friend' was the source. So either they were lying originally or they're lying now.

"There is one constant when a person or company is caught doing something wrong. The coverup is always worse," said Clooney. "What separates this from all of the ridiculous things the Mail makes up is that now, by their own admission, it can be proved to be a lie... So I thank the Mail for its apology. Not that I would ever accept it, but because in doing so they've exposed themselves as the worst kind of tabloid."

The conflict between Clooney and the tabloid comes from an article published in April that claimed girlfriend Alamuddin's family disapproved of their union based on differences in their religions.  Alamuddin's family has a Druze (an offshoot of Islam) background.

Clooney and Alamuddin are marrying in Italy sometime in September 2014.